


An Unexpected Friendship

by Atsuko_Cavendish



Category: Little Witch Academia
Genre: au - childhood friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2018-08-05
Packaged: 2019-06-22 08:58:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15578322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atsuko_Cavendish/pseuds/Atsuko_Cavendish
Summary: It's Diana's first day at Luna Nova, and she just has to confirm if the girl that appeared during the cloud of smoke in the entrance ceremony actually was her childhood friend.This is basically a rewrite of some of the episodes from the show with the twist of Akko and Diana being childhood friends (and maybe even more...?)





	An Unexpected Friendship

**Author's Note:**

> Rewrite of episode 2:  
> Akko and Diana meet for the first time in years, will it go well?

Diana’s hands were shaking since she had returned her food tray and was now walking through the cafeteria. “Alright, you can do this. Just take a deep breath and go for it.”  
“Uhh, Diana?” Hannah tilted her head and looked at her roommate with a puzzled expression. “Are you alright?”  
“What? Yes, I am fine, thank you. I merely have been thinking aloud I suppose. There is something I have to take care of now, if you want you and Barbara can already go onwards to the courtyard.”  
“It’s not like we’re in a hurry, and you look a little pale, so we’d rather stay by your side.” Barbara placed her hand on Diana’s shoulder.  
“As I already stated, I am completely fine. You must be imagining things. But if you wish to accompany me then I suppose I have no reason to keep you from doing that.”  
Diana walked onwards, clearly aimed for a table where three first semesters were sitting, still busy eating their lunch. Her roommates followed her, exchanging questioning looks.

“These classes are sooooo boring. I mean I suppose they wouldn’t be if I got at least a part of what the teachers were saying, but they could as well speak french, or any other language. I even asked them after classes and got scolded for it. This is SO not fair.”  
The brunette girl slumped down on the table.  
“Haven’t you learned this already at home? We’re just covering basics. Maybe you’re just too dumb.” The pink haired girl gave her a wide grin with shark-like teeth.  
“Sucy! That was uncalled for. Akko doesn’t come from a witches family. She didn’t have any chance to learn this. The teachers really should help her more.” The blonde corrected the position of her glasses.  
“Thanks, Lotte. And thanks again for pulling that plant out of my hair as well. I owe you something, you’re really...”

Diana cleared her throat and stepped closer to the table.  
{“Akko-chan? Is it really you?”}  
The three girls at the table quickly spun around and faced her, confused about the sudden use of Japanese. A few other students got curious as well.  
“Uhh, do I know youuuuuu…” Akko’s face slowly went from confusion to realization, her eyes growing wide. {“OH WOW, IT’S YOU. AHHHHHH, THIS IS SO AMAZING. I knew you seemed familiar when you were answering everything correctly in classes. Wow, this is so great. I missed you so much. We have so much to talk about!”}  
Akko jumped up from her seat and threw her arms around Diana, causing all four of their roommates as well as some other students to gasp.

Hannah found her speech back first. “Get your hands off her. Don’t you know who she is? A dirty commoner like you should be grateful she’s even talking to you. This is Diana...”  
“...Cavendish,” Akko interrupted the insulting wordflow, looking smug and angry into the redhead’s face after letting go of the blonde. “daughter or Bernadette Cavendish, future head of the family, descendant of Beatrix, bla bla bla, rich people talk. Also, she’s my bestest friend in the whole wide world, she and her mom stayed in my mom’s holiday resort for a summer about 10 years ago. We spent everyday together back then.”  
“Yes, that is correct. And I would highly appreciate it if you wouldn’t call my closest friend a, how did you phrase it, ‘dirty commoner’?” Diana put a hand on Akko’s shoulder, looking at Hannah with a cold expression.  
The witch in question gulped and stared down at her shoes. “Sorry…” she mumbled.  
Barbara stood besides Hannah and let her eyes wander between the three girls, an unsure expression on her face. “So, uhh, this is awkward. You said you wanted us to wait for you in the courtyard, yes Diana? We’ll be on our way then and we’ll see you there. Come on, Hannah.”  
She dragged the redhead with her, sending one last shy smile in Akko’s direction before they were gone.

 

“So, Akko, I overheard you complaining about the classes?” Diana turned to Akko, a soft smile on her face.  
“Yeah, I don’t get anything the teachers are saying. I’ve never heard of this stuff before. And when I ask them they get angry. All of them, as if it was my fault that I didn’t have anyone to teach me before.”  
“If you want I could teach you some of the basics in our free time. And later this afternoon I wanted to visit the greenhouse, you’re welcome to join me.  
But for now I need to go and see my roommates, we have some supplies to gather for later.”

 

\-----------------------------------

 

As Diana walked out into the courtyard her roommates immediately ran up to her.  
“What was that about, huh? You actually know that dunce?” Hannah was close to Diana’s face, clearly invading her personal space. Barbara put a hand on her shoulder.  
“Han, you heard what they said. They were friends, long before we knew Diana. I’m curious as well, but you should calm down.”  
“Thank you, Barbara.” Diana took a step back, straightened her skirt and sat down on a nearby bench. “Sit next to me, you two, I suppose I owe you some answers.”  
Once the girls were seated on each side of Diana, she began to speak again.  
“You two never got to meet mother. She was an amazing witch, always helpful to anyone, true to our family motto: affection. She wanted to improve the world’s view on magic and tried to understand what made people believe in the power of witches back when we were having the Golden Age. Part of her research was going to excavation sites and going over any magical artifacts found there. When I was old enough she allowed me to accompany her on her travels. Our first trip together brought us to a tropical island in the south of Japan, called Okinawa. While I did speak the language I wasn’t fluent. Adults were able to understand me, but the kids ridiculed me. All except one. The daughter of the resort we were staying in came to me and spoke in accented English, trying to make me comfortable.  
As you already guessed, I’m talking about Akko. We spent every day of that summer together. She was the first person ever to not be interested in my name but in me. When the other kids were laughing at us she defended me, even though she was suffering from their words just as much as I was, if not more.  
But we couldn’t stay together. Mother got sick and we had to leave earlier than we planned.  
I didn’t even get the chance to give her my address, so we couldn’t stay in contact.  
I wanted to write to her oh so many times, but after mother passed I never had the time to, I had to be the strong face of the family. I didn’t even have my best friend by my side to help me through the worst time in my life.  
Luckily I met you two a few years later, I’m glad you kept me company ever since.”  
Diana had started crying during her story and Barbara was hugging her while Hannah just looked at her feet, unable to say a single word.

 

\-----------------------------------

 

“So, you’ve been collecting all these cards during your childhood?”  
“Yes, they always were my most precious treasures. I started learning English so I could read them. There’s only one card missing in my set: the super rare premium card ‘A Believing Heart’. I know I once had it, but I can’t remember what happened to it.”

“Chariot cards? Really?” Hannah was suddenly standing behind the red team, laughing.  
“Hannah, please. What did I tell you earlier in the cafeteria?” Diana raised an eyebrow at her currently rather unfriendly roommate.  
“Come on Diana, everyone in the magical world knows Chariot is a joke. It’s rather fitting, the only non-witch in school being a fan of the worst witch there ever was.” Barbara was now laughing too.  
“HEY! Chariot isn’t the worst witch, she’s the best. She made people smile, she could bring hope and happiness to everyone. And she gave me a dream, a goal to work towards. One day I want to be a witch like her and bring happiness to everyone!” Akko held onto the staff she had found in Arcturus Forest, her knuckles white. She was slightly shaking, and Diana could see she was close to either crying or going right into a fistfight with Hannah and Barbara, or even both.  
“You can’t possibly be serious. You’re here because you want to be like her? She was a fool, the laughing stock of the entire magical society. That’s why she disappeared ten years ago, nobody cared about her ever since.” Hannah wasn’t as deceptive as Diana and went on teasing the brunette. “And what even is that thing you’re holding? Some sort of toy?”  
Akko’s eyebrows furrowed, Diana was now sure she was close to attacking her roommates.  
“Girls, could you please!” Diana couldn’t watch this any second longer. “While it is true that Chariot was rather unpopular in our circles, she was a Luna Nova student, just like us. We shouldn’t badmouth our predecessors like that, especially if they inspired other people to join our circles. Magic is decaying in the world, there’s no denying that. Every new student means hope.”  
“You really think so? That everyone who wants to should just become a witch? But what about the old families?” Barbara tilted her head.  
“If they are willing to learn, yes. And Akko here has proven herself willing to learn, sadly our teachers aren’t willing to teach her accordingly, which I plan to do in their place.  
And about the families, they once started somewhere as well. Excluding someone based on their heritage is racism, something I cannot stand for.”  
“Sorry Diana.” both girls said in unison, looking on the ground.  
“It’s not me who you should apologize to.” The blonde crossed her arms in front of her chest, raising an eyebrow at the two.  
“We’re sorry, Akko.”  
“Alright, now that that is cleared,” Diana spun around, flicked her hair and smiled at her friend. “would you like to come with us? There’s something I wanted to show you.”  
“Yeah, sure Diana, let me just pack up my cards really quick.” The brunette hopped around and gathered all her belongings from the ground. “Hey, can Lotte and Sucy join too?”  
“Very well, I see no reason to exclude them.” Diana put her hands on the shorter girl’s shoulders. {“Oh, but Akko, I might not always be by your side to defend you, so could you keep your excitement about Chariot for yourself? She sadly is really frowned upon by almost everyone here and I don’t want you to get hurt or insulted.”}  
{“Oh, okay. As long as I can keep her in my heart I guess I don’t necessarily have to talk about her to anyone but my friends.”}  
{“Also, Akko, is that the real…”} Diana’s hands wandered to the staff in the shorter girl’s hands.  
{“Huh? Oh, yeah, this is the real Shiny Rod. I found it when we fell out of the leyline into Arcturus Forest. I used it to open a portal to escape a cockatrice that was trying to eat us, that’s how we appeared in the middle of the opening ceremony.”} Akko rubbed the back of her head.  
{“I see, I was really surprised when you suddenly just plopped up out of nowhere. But I was really happy to see you again after all these years.”} Diana gave the shorter girl a smile and put a hand on her shoulder.  
{“Yeah, I was really happy to see you again this morning as well.”} Akko threw her arms around Diana to hug her once again.  
Diana coughed as she freed herself from the overly excited hug. “Alright, then let us not waste any more time.”

 

\-----------------------------------

 

Headmistress Holbrooke was standing inside the greenhouse, looking at a rather sick tree. Next to her was Professor Ursula, and Professor Finnelan of all people.  
Akko groaned seeing her, and once Finnelan noticed the Japanese she did the same.  
“Headmistress, I can’t believe the rumors were true. Seeing the Jennifer Memorial Tree in such a sorry state, it’s heartbreaking.” Diana softly spoke, a sad expression on her face.  
“It is a rather old tree, maybe it’s time has come.” The headmistress had an equally sad tone to her voice.  
“Not necessarily, there are a few things that might be causing this, and I believe they should be reversible. I have to study some more books.” Professor Ursula pushed up her glasses that had been sliding down and gave a soft smile, trying to show reassurance.  
“Then why are you still standing here? If you have books to read, then go do so.” Professor Finnelan hissed at her younger colleague.  
“Oh. Ah. Yes, of course. I’ll be on my way. Take care girls. And Miss Kagari, there’s something I wanted to discuss with you, I’ll talk to you later.” The younger teacher was melting under the stare of her superior, flailing her arms and rushing out towards the library.  
“Why are you even here?” Now Finnelan was openly showing her reason of anger, the presence of a certain Japanese witch who was now receiving her deadly stare.  
As Diana noticed Akko slumping down under her teacher’s stare she intervened, stepping between the two. “Ahem. There is something I’d like to try to help with the situation of our beloved Memorial Tree. Revitalisation magic, an old tradition passed down in my family. I invited Atsuko and her roommates, since I believe a display of what magic is able to do would be beneficial for her education. I will also give her some private lessons in my free time, something our teachers seem to be to busy to accomplish.”  
“Thank you, Diana.” The headmistress placed a hand on the blonde’s shoulder, it looked a bit ridiculous given how much smaller the old woman was. “If you as our best student will help her out I’m sure miss Kagari will catch up to the rest of our students in no time. Thank you very much for your efforts.  
We will be on our way now too, isn’t that right Professor Finnelan?”  
The teacher let out an annoyed huff, but the two women went out after Professor Ursula.

Akko couldn’t hold herself up anymore and slumped down, sitting on her knees.  
“She’s so scary” it was nothing more but a slight mumble, but Diana noticed anyways.  
“It’s okay Akko, I’m here to help you. We all are, right girls?”  
“Yes, definitely.” Barbara was right by Diana’s side, giving a wide smile to the smaller girl.  
“Huh? But didn’t you hate me yesterday?” Akko looked at Barbara in confusion.  
“Well, you see, I was with Avery and Hannah, and they were both so focused on how important lineage is and such, I didn’t dare to go against them. Plus it was kinda funny that you didn’t know about the leylines. I’m sorry, I hope you can forgive me.”  
Instead of an answer Akko gave Barbara a close hug, pulling her down to sit as well.

As the girls all were placing the stones Diana and her roommates had brought, a question shot through Akko’s brain. “Hey, what exactly is so special about this tree? I mean I get it’s an old tree and kinda important to the school, but why?”  
“You can’t possibly be serious. Everyone knows that.” Hannah glared at her.  
“Everyone from a magical family does, but Akko didn’t have the luck to grow up in one.” Lotte came to the brunette’s help.  
“When witches die they become trees.” Sucy said in a monotone voice, not looking up and continuing to place stones in the circular pattern they were going for.  
“Yeah sure, and hamsters can fly.” Akko shot back at her.  
“No Akko, your friend is right.” Barbara softly explained. “Witches pull their power from the leylines. Those are branches and roots of the magical tree Yggdrasil. The more magic a witch uses, the closer she becomes to the tree, and once her lifeforce runs out she turns into a tree herself.”  
“Whoa, for real?” Akko’s jaw dropped and her eyes grew wide. “So this tree actually is this Jennifer witch?”  
“Yes, this tree is what remained of the great Jennifer, one of the Nine Olde Witches who also founded this school, and she was the first headmistress. Seeing her tree die would be a great loss for the school and its reputation.” Diana had placed all of her stones and had returned to Akko’s side.

Once every stone was placed Diana gestured for everyone to leave the circles and stand behind her.  
“I will now use my magic to pull the nutrients from these mineral stones and give them to the tree to refresh it’s life forces. This should give us some time until Professor Ursula is done with her studies on the cause of the tree’s state.”  
Everyone nodded in awe of what Diana had just explained.  
“Louperial Ral!”  
She drew a circle with her wand and green sparks flew to the few bigger stones, and from there spread to the smaller ones, lighting up the whole tree in a green glow that slowly was sucked up inside of it. The bark of the tree immediately gained back color and the branches grew buds.  
“Wow, that’s so amazing Diana.” Akko bounced back and forth on her feet excitedly.  
“It seems to have worked, I’m glad.” Diana smiled softly and admired her word.  
“We have to go and tell the teachers!” Barbara chirped.  
“Yeah, like, right now!” Hannah was just as excited and ran off with her roommate, leaving Diana behind with the red team.  
Shortly after the two left the floor began to rumble. Cracks appeared from which the roots shot up above ground.  
“Take cover!” Diana shouted as she threw herself over Akko to protect the smaller girl.  
Lotte and Sucy ran to the entrance and stayed in the doorframe.  
The shaking stopped as suddenly as it had started. The tree had lost all of its color once again and the roots were now visible to see, and on them were white cocoons with spikes and a yellow star in the middle of each of them.  
“Hey, Diana, I’m fine, can you please get off me?” Akko tried to stand up which wasn’t that easy with her friend spread all over her.  
Diana blushed, immediately stood up, straightened her clothes and offered a hand to help her friend on her feet.  
“Ahem. I’m sorry, I guess I was a bit overprotective there.”  
“It’s fine Dia, don’t worry about it.” Akko waved her hand.  
“Dia?” The blonde raised an eyebrow.  
“What, you don’t like the nickname? Sorry, I thought it was cute.” The brunette gave a sheepish chuckle and rubbed the back of her head.  
“No, I was just surprised is all… Oh no!” Only now Diana fully noticed what happened and her eyes grew wide upon the realization. “It seems like the energy I gave the tree has been sucked up by these parasites. I have to fix this, I can’t make any failures.”  
“These seem somehow familiar, I could swear I’ve seen them befo… DIANA WAIT!”  
But it was too late, Diana had flicked her wand at one of the cocoons and shouted.  
“Murowa! Murowa, Murowa!” Two more cocoons got hit by her spell and deflated, now grey instead of white.  
“DIANA. Wait, listen to me!” Akko jumped in front of her, arms wide stretched out.  
“What’s going on?” Sucy tilted her head at the two girls, having finally made her way over the roots to the two girls.  
“I think I know what these are, and they’re not dangerous. You shouldn’t kill them!” Akko declared, searching through her bag.  
“You know what those are? How?” Lotte had arrived as well, breathing a bit harder than usual from the climbing.  
“From my Chariot cards. Those are magical butterflies. Paper-something.”  
“Pappiliodya?” Diana’s eyes went wide in realization.   
“They hatch once every 120 years. A magical butterfly that gives hope to the hearts of everybody who sees their first flight.” Akko recited the text written on her card from memory while pointing it at their friends. “I believe the text at the bottom is the spell that would make them hatch, but I can’t read it.”  
“H-here, let me see.” Diana’s hands were shaking as she took the card, looking at it in awe. “Pappilio Filio Nymphodya.” As the blonde said those words the staff Akko had taken out of her bag while searching for the cards had begun to glow.   
Akko grabbed it and looked Diana in the eyes. “Alright, then let’s do this. Together.”  
“T-together?” Diana stumbled a step back. “Are you sure about that? Casting a spell with two or more witches requires absolute sync, it’s not something just anyone can do.”  
“Yeah, but we’re best friends, I’m sure it’ll work. Also, I can’t fully control my magic yet, so it’d be easier with your help than without. Pleeeeeeasee?” Akko gave Diana giant puppy eyes together with a confident smile, holding her left hand out while her right was holding onto Shiny Rod.  
“Very well.” Diana gave her a small nod, then she reached for her wand and crossed it with the ancient staff.

“PAPPILIO” Akko’s grip on Shiny Rod tightened as the orbs in it began to glow brighter.  
“FILIO” Diana’s grip on her wand tightened as well, she could feel the sizzling of their combined magic in the air.  
“NYMPHODYA” Both girls flicked their magic utensil against the other’s, causing them to click against each other, their magic combining into a bright yellow orb floating above them that then divided into many smaller ones, each of them going into one of the many cocoons surrounding them.  
The cocoons began to glow, then they cracked open and finally the human shaped golden butterflies emerged.  
It was a beautiful sight when they all soared up towards the sky, circling around the entire school.  
Once they had left the greenhouse the tree was colorful once again, and all of its leaves had returned, it looked as healthy as it possibly could.

“The tree is in full bloom again, what a beautiful sight.” The headmistress had appeared behind them once again.  
“It was all thanks to Diana’s spell, she’s amazing.” Hannah chimed, following the headmistress together with Barbara and Finnelan.  
“No, it wasn’t me alone.” Diana tried to interrupt them.  
“All we did was placing stones, that doesn’t really count.” Barbara stated.  
“That’s not the point, I…” Diana’s shoulders fell, she looked defeated.  
“Noone besides you could have done something this amazing.” Finnelan smiled at the deflating girl.  
“Just stop! Listen to me, please.” Diana’s pleading voice rang through to the four. She stretched back her shoulders, trying to regain her composure. “I merely provided the tree with nutrients, but they immediately got sucked up by cocoons. Cocoons I thought to be parasites I proceeded to get rid off. It was Akko who recognized them to be Pappiliodya. It was her who hatched them, with my help admittedly. But the praise should go to her since she was the only one to realize what they were. Magical creatures I almost killed.  
If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be on my way now.”

 

\-----------------------------------

 

{“Hey, Diana, wait up.”} Akko ran after her friend as quick as her legs could carry her, finally catching up with the blonde outside the greenhouse. {“I thought it’d be nice if you grabbed your broom and we’d go fly with the butterflies for a bit. After all those questions from Finnelan I could really need some quality fun time with my best friend.”}  
“Oh Akko.” Diana wrapped her arms around the smaller girl, pulling her close until their foreheads were touching. Crystal blue eyes met firey red. Akko could feel her friend trembling, so she returned the hug and ran her hand over her back in small circles.  
“Hey, everything okay?”  
{“I- I just mis-sed you so mu-much.”} Diana couldn’t hold back her tears anymore. She buried her face in the crook of Akko’s neck and cried. {“After all those years I finally see you again. And what do I do? Kill precious magical creatures. I’m a Cavendish, I can’t fail like that. I simply can’t. The last ten years have been so awful. I had to grow up so fast, keep myself holed up and stand in for my deceased mother. I miss her Akko. She died shortly after I left you. I’ll never get to see her again, and that hurts. But I can’t let anyone see that, I have to be the perfect head of the perfect family, a prodigy for everyone to admire. This is so much pressure. I feel like I’m breaking under it.”}  
{“Shh, it’s alright. I’m here, by your side. I will support you wherever I can. And I will never leave your side ever again. You’re stuck with me now, Cavendish. And you better appreciate it.”}  
Akko’s words made Diana giggle. She cleaned her face with a tissue that she carefully folded up again, then she tidied up her clothes and looked back at Akko.  
“You said you wanted to fly with the butterflies?”  
“Yes, please. They’re sooooo beautiful, and I thought it’d help us calm down a bit after all that just happened.”  
“Yes, let’s do that. They indeed are beautiful.” ‘But not as beautiful as you’ Diana continued in her mind.

**Author's Note:**

> So this was the first chapter, hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> I won't regularly update this, but I'll try to get at least one chapter out per month if I can.  
> This is my first published work, feel free to comment on anything but please don't be too harsh ;)


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